Method of visually outputting to a worker during an operation a number of parameters pertaining to the operation, and associated apparatus

ABSTRACT

A method includes detecting currently existing dose rates while a worker is performing an operation within a Radiologically Controlled Area (RCA) and visually outputting to the worker a dosage rate map of ionizing radiation within the RCA. The visual output can be visually depicted on a display that is worn by the worker during the operation and that is situated in proximity to the worker&#39;s eye. Another method of visually outputting to a worker a number of visual indicia that are representative of a number of parameters of an operation performed inside or outside the RCA includes periodically receiving a number of inputs from a number of detectors, employing the inputs to determine values for the parameters, and depicting the number of visible indicia on an electronic visual display that is situated on the worker and that is disposed proximate an eye of the worker.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The instant application claims priority from U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 62/115,939 filed Feb. 13, 2015, from U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/043,899 filed Feb. 15, 2016, and from U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/592,822 filed May 11, 2017, thedisclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The disclosed and claimed concept relates generally to operations suchas welding operations and, more particularly, to a method of visuallyoutputting a number of parameters to a worker during performance of theoperation by outputting a number of visual indicia on an electronicvisual display that is situated on the worker and is disposed proximatean eye of the worker.

2. Related Art

As is generally understood in the relevant art, operations such asmaintenance operations, repair operations, and the like are necessary ordesirable to be performed in a Radiologically Controlled Area (RCA). Asis likewise understood in the relevant art, RCAs exist in nuclear powerplant facilities, such as within the nuclear containment of suchfacilities, and in other places. Many such maintenance and other suchoperations within an RCA must be carried out by human personnel such asplant workers and the like. In such a situation, the worker who issituated inside the RCA is subjected to nuclear radiation, which isgenerally undesirable, so the worker typically is limited to at mostonly a certain predetermined amount of nuclear radiation, which is oftenmeasured in millirems.

In order to ascertain the number of millirems to which a worker isexposed during an operation within an RCA, it has been known to dispatcha number of personnel to the RCA for the purpose of measuring thevarious radiation dose rates at the various locations within an RCAwhere a worker may be expected to go. Such position-based dose rates,i.e., in millirems per hour, are then employed by planning personnel atthe facility to plan the maintenance and other operations that areintended to occur within the RCA. The planning personnel consider thevarious dose rates at the various locations in the RCA and the amount oftime that is anticipated for the worker to spend at various locationswithin the RCA. An estimated dose is estimated based upon the variousdose rates that the worker will likely experience over the course of theoperation. Various safety factors are built into the calculation inorder to ensure that the radiation to which the worker is exposed doesnot exceed the maximum allowable dose.

While systems of this type have been generally effective for theirintended purposes, they have not been without limitation. For instance,the safety factors that are built into the plans for performing thevarious operations are typically in the form of additional time, wherebythe worker typically is removed from the RCA after a limited amount oftime in order to ensure that the worker has not been subjected to morethan the allowable dose of radiation. This is regardless of whether themaximum allowable dose has actually been received by the worker, and itincreases the cost of performing maintenance and other activities in theRCA. Additionally, such planned operations are based only upon the datathat was collected prior to the maintenance operation actually beingperformed, and it is therefore possible that the worker can beoverexposed to radiation in excess of the maximum allowable dose despitethe safety factors and precautions that are built into the operation.Overexposure of a worker to radiation is extremely costly and it isdesirably avoided. Improvements thus would be desirable.

Operations such as maintenance operations, repair operations, and thelike can include welding operations that may or may not be performedwithin the RCA. As is known in the general art, a welding operationtypically involves the use of some type of a welding machine thattypically employs electricity or combustible gases to produce heat toform a weld. The welding machine typically includes some type of awelding instrument that is manually held by the worker and whichactually forms the weld on the workpiece. The welding machine typicallyalso includes some type of a heat source, such as a source of electricalenergy or combustible gases to generate the heat that is used by thewelding instrument. The welding machine may further include supplies ofadditional materials that can vary depending upon the welding technologythat is employed. For instance, additional materials that are used incertain welding technologies may include a supply of metal, typically inthe form of an electrode of some type or a length of wire that is meltedto form a part of the weld. Another such additional material is any oneor more types of inert gases (e.g., noble gases and the like) that areprovided at the location of the weld while it is being formed in orderto provide an oxygen-free environment at the location where the weld isbeing formed.

It is also known that the character of a weld can be based upon apre-established specification for the weld that must be adhered to inorder to ensure that the weld will pass inspection. The weldspecification might include specified properties such as the voltage andcurrent that were employed, the pressure of the inert gas that wassupplied to the weld, a wire feed rate of the electrode material, andthe like without limitation. While the worker who forms the weld canusually adjust a number of settings on a welding machine prior toinitiating the weld, there typically exists a possibility that thesettings can somehow become changed or that for whatever reason thespecification is somehow otherwise unmet, and this often can happenwithout the knowledge of the worker. Additionally, dangerous conditionscan develop in the environment in which the weld is being formed withoutthe worker necessarily knowing of the existence of such dangerousconditions, which is an undesirable situation that is preferablyavoided. Improvements thus would be desirable.

SUMMARY

An improved method in accordance with the disclosed and claimed conceptincludes detecting on an ongoing basis the currently existing dose rateswhile a worker is performing a maintenance or other operation within theRCA, and visually outputting to the worker or to another person such asa supervisor information that pertains to the ionizing radiation towhich the worker is being exposed during the operation. The informationthat is visually output can include information such as the current doserate and the overall dose to which the worker has been subjected, butcan additionally include information such as the time remaining beforewhich the worker will have been exposed to the maximum allowable dose.Furthermore, it is possible for the visual display to output visualindicia that represent a comparison between the exposure to ionizingradiation that had been planned as a function of time prior to theoperation being commenced with the actual exposure to ionizing radiationas the operation is performed. The various visual outputs can bevisually depicted on a display that is worn by the worker during theoperation and that is situated in proximity to the worker's eye, such asby projecting the visual information onto a lens of a set of glassesworn by the worker. Additionally or alternatively, the same informationcan be output on a visual display that is observed by a person outsidethe RCA, such as a supervisor. Additionally, the position of the workerwithin the RCA, such as in the form of x,y coordinates or x,y,zcoordinates within the RCA, can be stored in conjunction with themeasured dose rate at such location as detected by a dosimeter worn bythe worker, potentially also with a time stamp. These data can berecorded in a database that is described in greater detail below. Thedata in the database can then be employed to generate a dosage rate mapof the RCA that shows the various dose rates at various locations withinthe RCA and that can be visually output for viewing by the worker, suchas on the aforementioned set of glasses, and can additionally oralternatively be output for viewing by a supervisor or other personneloutside the RCA. Additionally or alternatively, an improved method ofvisually outputting to a worker a number of visual indicia that arerepresentative of a number of parameters of an operation includesperiodically receiving a number of inputs from a number of detectors,employing the inputs to determine values for the parameters, anddepicting the number of visible indicia on an electronic visual displaythat is situated on the worker and that is disposed proximate an eye ofthe worker.

Accordingly, an aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept is toprovide an improved method of visually outputting indicia that includeinformation pertaining to the actual dose of ionizing radiation to whichthe worker has been exposed and that is updated on a continual basis.

Another aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept is to providevisible output that includes indicia that are representative of the timeremaining before a worker will be exposed to a maximum allowable doseand that can include other indicia that are representative of acomparison between a planned exposure to ionizing radiation comparedwith an actual exposure to ionizing radiation.

Another aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept is to visuallyoutput a dosage rate map that depicts the various dosage rates ofvarious locations within an RCA for viewing by a worker performing anoperation and/or by another person situated outside the RCA.

Another aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept is to provide to aworker visual information pertaining to an operation that is beingperformed by the worker and to visually depict such information on avisual display device that is worn by the worker and that is disposedproximate the worker's eye.

Another aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept is to provide to aworker who is performing a welding operation or other operation a numberof visible indicia that pertain to the operation and that are displayedon a visual display device that is worn by the worker and that isdisposed proximate the worker's eye.

Another aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept is to provide to aworker visible indicia that are continually updated to reflect thecontinuing updated parameters that pertain to the operation.

Another aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept is to enable theworker to select a particular visual format for the display of thevisible indicia.

Another aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept is to provide as apart of the visible indicia one or more of the parameters that pertainto the operation and that are output in such a fashion as to enable theworker to be advised of the values of the parameters prior to theparameters meeting or exceeding the limits of a pre-establishedspecification of the operation.

Another aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept is to bring to theattention of the worker any of a number of environmental parameters thatmay develop in the environment in which the operation is being performedand that may be dangerous to the worker.

Accordingly, an aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept is toprovide an improved method of providing to a worker during an operationwherein the worker is situated within a Radiologically Controlled Area(RCA) continually updated information pertaining to the operation, themethod can be generally stated as including detecting a number ofmeasured dose rates at a number of times during the operation, eachmeasured dose rate of the number of measured dose rates beingrepresentative of a rate at which the worker is exposed to ionizingradiation at a corresponding time of the number of times, periodicallydetermining, based at least in part upon the number of measured doserates, a measured accumulated dose at each time of the number of timesthat is representative of the accumulated exposure of the worker toionizing radiation since the beginning of the operation, for each timeof the number of times: subtracting the corresponding measuredaccumulated dose from an allowable maximum dose to determine acorresponding actual available dose that is representative of acorresponding additional accumulation of exposure of the worker toionizing radiation that is permissible during the operation, anddetermining, based at least in part upon the corresponding actualavailable dose and a measured dose rate from among the number ofmeasured dose rates, a corresponding actual time remaining until theworker will have been exposed to the allowable maximum dose, andoutputting at one or more times of the number of times on a visualdisplay a visible output that includes indicia which is representative,at least in part, of the actual time remaining.

Another aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept is to provide animproved method of visually outputting a set of continually updated datapertaining to a number of dose rates within a Radiologically ControlledArea (RCA) during an operation wherein a worker is situated within aninterior region of the RCA. The method can be generally stated asincluding, for each dosimeter of a number of dosimeters situated withinthe RCA, periodically detecting from the dosimeter a measured dose ratethat is representative of a rate at which the dosimeter is exposed toionizing radiation, detecting a position within the RCA where thedosimeter is situated when the measured dose rate is detected, andstoring in a storage as a part of a data record a data entry thatcomprises at least the measured dose rate and the position. The methodcan be further stated as including employing the data record todetermine a number of most current dose rates, each most current doserate of the number of most current dose rates being associated with acorresponding location from among a number of locations within the RCA,the most current dose rate being representative of a rate at which anobject situated at the corresponding location would be exposed toionizing radiation, and outputting on a visual display a visible outputthat includes a number of visual objects, at least some of visualobjects of the number of visual objects each being representative, atleast in part, of a most current dose rate of the number of most currentdose rates and the corresponding location.

Another aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept is to provide animproved method of visually outputting to a worker during theperformance of an operation that is being performed at least in part bythe worker a number of visible indicia that are continually updated andthat are representative of a number of parameters that pertain to theoperation. The method can be generally stated as including periodicallyreceiving a number of inputs from a number of detectors, periodicallyemploying at least some of the inputs of the number of inputs todetermine a value for each of at least a subset of parameters of thenumber of parameters, and depicting the number of visible indicia on anelectronic visual display that is situated on the worker and is disposedproximate an eye of the worker, the number of visible indicia beingrepresentative of the value that corresponds with each parameter of atleast some of the parameters of the at least subset.

Another aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept is to provide animproved welding apparatus structured to be usable by a worker toperform a welding operation. The welding apparatus can be generallystated as including a welding instrument structured to be manually heldby the worker, a heat source connected with the welding instrument, anumber of detectors, each detector of the number of detectors beingstructured to detect a property of at least one of the weldinginstrument, the heat source, and an environment in which the weldingapparatus is situated, a processor apparatus connected with the numberof instruments and that can be generally stated as including a processorand a storage, an electronic visual display that is structured to besituated on the worker and to be disposed proximate an eye of theworker, the electronic visual display being structured to visuallyoutput to the worker during the performance of the operation a number ofvisible indicia that are continually updated and that are representativeof a number of parameters that pertain to the operation, the storagehaving stored therein a number of routines which, when executed on theprocessor, cause the processor apparatus to perform a number ofoperations that can be generally stated as including periodicallyreceiving a number of inputs from the number of detectors, periodicallyemploying at least some of the inputs of the number of inputs todetermine a value for each of at least a subset of parameters of thenumber of parameters, and depicting the number of visible indicia on theelectronic visual display.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the disclosed and claimed concept can begained from the following Description when read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a system that is usable to perform animproved method in accordance with the disclosed and claimed concept;

FIG. 2 is a processing diagram depicting certain aspects of the improvedmethod;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary chart depicting various calculated results andvisual outputs that occur during the improved method;

FIG. 4 is a diagram depicting the development of a set of dose rate andposition data that is usable to create a dosage rate map such as isdepicted in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 depicts a flowchart showing certain aspect of an improved methodin accordance with the disclosed and claimed concept;

FIG. 6 is a schematic depiction of an improved welding apparatus inaccordance with the disclosed and claimed concept being used by a workerto perform an improved method in accordance with the disclosed andclaimed concept;

FIG. 7A, FIG. 7B, FIG. 7C, and FIG. 7D depict various visual outputsthat are shown on an electronic visual display that is situated on theworker and that is disposed proximate an eye of the worker;

FIG. 8 is a schematic depiction of a computer of the welding apparatusof FIG. 6; and

FIG. 9 is a flowchart depicting certain aspects of the improved method.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the specification.

DESCRIPTION

An improved system 4 in accordance with the disclosed and claimedconcept is depicted generally in FIG. 1. The system 4 is usable inconnection with a radiologically controlled area (RCA) 8 that may besituated within a nuclear containment of a nuclear power plant, by wayof example and without limitation. The system 4 includes a computer 12having a visual display 16 and which is in wireless communication with aset of glasses 20 that can be worn by a worker 28 as well as with atablet 24 that can be carried by the worker 28. The glasses 20 are a setof smart glasses having a wireless data communication capability andhaving as its lenses a pair of transparent visual displays on whichsubject matter can be visually output while the user looks through thetransparent lenses in the performing of a maintenance operation or otheroperation within the RCA 8. The tablet 24 is a computerized devicehaving a visual display and having a wireless data communicationcapability, and it may alternatively be in the form of a smart phone, alaptop computer, or other personal mobile device, by way of example. Thecomputer 12 additionally includes a storage 140 having a database (DB)170 stored therein, it being noted that the DB serves as a data recordof data that is obtained from inside the RCA 8. The worker 28additionally carries a portable electronic dosimeter 32 which caninclude a Geiger counter or other such device that measures the dosagerate of ionizing radiation to which it is subjected.

In the depicted exemplary embodiment, the dosimeter 32 is in wirelesscommunication with the tablet 24 and/or with the glasses 20 and/or withthe computer 12. That is, the glasses 20, the tablet 24, and thedosimeter 32 can wirelessly communicate with one another via a Bluetoothwireless connection or other wireless connection. The glasses 20, thetablet 24, and, potentially, the dosimeter 32 can communicate wirelesslywith the computer 12 via a number of wireless access points 36 that arein electronic communication with the computer 12. As employed herein,the expression “a number of” and variations thereof shall broadly to anynon-zero quantity, including a quantity of one. The number of wirelessaccess points 36 will be situated within the RCA 8 and are configured tonot only receive the wireless signals that are being transmitted fromthe glasses 20, the tablet 24, and the dosimeter 32, but to alsocommunicate wireless signals to such devices. Additionally, the numberof wireless access points 36 are able to detect the specific locationwithin the RCA 8 of, for instance, the dosimeter 32 and/or the tablet 24and/or the glasses 20 at any given time. See the following linkregarding Cisco's Wi Fi-Based Location Analytics:

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/mobility-services-engine/white_paper_c11-728970.html

For instance, the dosimeter 32 regularly measures the dosage rate ofionizing radiation within the RCA 8, and it communicates this dosagerate information to the tablet 24, by way of example, which communicatessuch dosage rate data to the wireless access points 36 for communicationto the computer 12. Simultaneously therewith, the wireless access points36 detect the position of the worker 28 along an x axis 44 and a y axis48, and potentially along a z axis, within the RCA 8 by detecting thelocation of the dosimeter 32 and/or the tablet 24 and/or the glasses 20.As such, when the dose rate that is detected by the dosimeter 32 isstored in a set of dose rate measured data 40, the set of data 40additionally includes a position within the RCA 8 where each such doserate was measured, and further includes a time stamp reflective of thetime at which such measurement was taken. The time stamp is generated bya system clock 34. This can be done contemporaneously for any number ofdosimeters that may be worn by other personnel within the RCA 8, andthis can occur prior to or during the operation in which the worker 28is involved.

Furthermore, it is noted that the dosimeters 32 need not be solely wornby the worker 28 and the other personnel. For instance one of thedosimeters 32 can be placed upon a movable platform 50 that is movableabout the RCA 8. For example, the movable platform could be roboticallyoperable via a wireless connection with the wireless access point 36.Alternatively, the movable platform 50 might have resident thereon itsown movement routines and detection system that would enable it tosystematically travel over the entire floor, for example, of the RCA 8.As the movable platform 50 moves along the x axis 44 and the y axis 48,the dosimeter 32 will periodically measure the dose rate. With each suchdose rate measurement, the measured dose rate and the correspondinglocation of the dosimeter 32 at the time of such measurement can becommunicated as a data entry for inclusion in the database 170, and thedata entry can optionally include a time stamp. The correspondinglocation can be determined using the wireless access point 36, or it canbe determined by the movable platform 50 itself. The movable platform 50can have a lift mechanism that elevates the dosimeter 32 to variousheights above the floor of the RCA in order to develop dose rate dataalong the z axis. In such a situation, the elevation of the dosimeter 32along the z axis would likely be communicated by the movable platform 50for storage as part of the data entry for inclusion in the database 170.

It can be seen that FIG. 1 depicts within the RCA 8 a plurality ofexemplary locations 52 where dosage rate data was detected and wasstored in the set of measured dose rate data 40, along withcorresponding x, y coordinates and time stamps. The exemplary locations52 are depicted in FIG. 1 as being in an exemplary grid pattern, but itis understood that the various locations 52 likely would instead be moreirregularly positioned within the RCA 8 because they would be takenwhile the worker 28 moves through the RCA 8 during the course ofperforming an operation within the RCA 8. The worker 28 likely wouldenter through an access port 54 into an area where the dosage rate is AsLow As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) and will begin performing the tasksthat are associated with the operation, all the while either movingabout from one moment to the next or staying stationary from one momentto the next. The dosimeter 32 may measure dose rates every second, orevery fraction of a second, or more or less frequently, depending uponthe needs of the particular application.

As will be set forth in greater detail below, the computer 12advantageously employs the set of measured dose rate data 40 in order tovisually depict on the visual display 16 and/or on the glasses 20 adosage rate map 55 that includes a first visual object 56 that isrepresentative of the RCA 8 and a number of second visual objects 60that are representative of the various locations within the RCA 8 andthat additionally depict the dosage rate at each such location. Thedosage rate map 55 can be visibly depicted on the visual display 16,which may itself be situated outside the RCA 8, and it can additionallyor alternatively be depicted on the glasses 20. In this regard, it isunderstood that the glasses 20 are worn by the worker 28 and include oneor more lenses that can serve as additional visual displays upon whichthe dosage rate map 55 and other indicia can be visually depicted. Sincethe glasses 20 and the lenses themselves are situated in proximity tothe eyes of the worker 28, the worker 28 can readily view the dosagerate map 55 and other visual indicia and data such as will be describedin greater detail below without having to separately view anotherdevice. That is, while such visual indicia can be output on the tablet24, by way of example, the outputting of such visual indicia on theglasses 20 facilitates the communication of the visual data to theworker 28 without having to separately look at the tablet 24 in order tosee such visual indicia.

Advantageously, the visual display 16 and the glasses 20 canadditionally visually depict other indicia that are based upon thedetected dosage rates as were detected and recorded in the set ofmeasured dose rate data 40. Even more advantageously, such detected doserate information in the set of measured dose rate data 40 can becompared with what had been the expected exposure to ionizing radiation,and the difference between the expected values and the actual measuredvalues can be represented on the glasses 20 and/or the visual display16. That is, not only can actual numerical data be output, but moresimplistic and easily visually understood indicia can be output tofacilitate rapid perception and understanding by the worker 28 and/oranother person who might be situated outside the RCA 8 and who may beobserving the visual display 16.

By way of example, and as is depicted generally in FIG. 2, the computer12 may include a planner routine 64 that is executable on the processorof the computer 12 and which can employ whatever dosage rate datacurrently exists, such as from previous operations that may have beenperformed by other workers inside the RCA and/or from dosimetry surveysthat may have been previously conducted inside the RCA. The plannerroutine 64 would additionally include data regarding the various tasksthat must be performed as part of the operation and the path through theRCA 8 that the worker 28 must follow in order to perform the varioustasks. The planner routine 64 would additionally include data regardingthe tasks themselves, such as the amount of time that typically would berequired of the tasks and would additionally include data regarding thelevel of experience of the worker 28, such as if the worker was a highlyexperienced individual who had already performed these same tasks in thepast or whether the worker is less experienced with such tasks. Theplanner routine 64 would then determine a profile as a function of theplanned dose rate at each of a plurality of times during the operation,and a planned accumulated dose 72 which would be based upon the planneddose rate 68 and the planned time that the user would spend at thevarious locations within the RCA 8. All of this information would becompared with a radiation dose limit 76 that represents the maximum doseof ionizing radiation to which the worker 28 is permitted to be exposed.Based upon these data, the planner routine 64 can calculate for eachtime during the operation a planned time left 80 which is calculated bysubtracting the planned accumulated dose 72 from the radiation doselimit and dividing it by the planned dose rate 68 that is expected to beexperienced by the worker at the corresponding time. An example of sucha set of data is depicted generally in FIG. 3. Each row in FIG. 3depicts an exemplary six minute period during the operation, which is atime period equal to one-tenth of an hour. The planned accumulated dose72 is calculated by multiplying the planned dose rate 68 by the relevantperiod of time that the worker 28 is expected to be exposed to thatplanned dose rate 68, and such values are accumulated over the course ofthe operation.

Additionally, the dosimeter 32 detects an actual radiation dose rate 84,and such dose rate data and corresponding position data and time stampsas are depicted in FIG. 1 are saved. The actual radiation dose rate 84is effectively multiplied by the amount of time that the worker 28experiences such actual radiation dose rate 84, and such exposure isaccumulated to determine an accumulated radiation dose 88. The computer12, having received the actual radiation dose rate 84 can calculate theactual accumulated radiation dose rate 88 and can further calculate fromsuch data an actual time left 92. The actual time left can be calculatedby subtracting the radiation dose limit 76 from the actual accumulatedradiation dose and dividing the result by the actual radiation dose rate84 at any given time. It is noted that the planned time left 80 and theactual time left 92 can be output numerically as a period of time which,in FIG. 3, is measured in hours. Again, such period of time can bedepicted on an ongoing and constantly updated basis on the glasses 20 oron the visual display 16 or on both. Since the data is numerical innature, the worker 28 will need to read the digits and mentally processthe digits in order to understand the content of the visual output.

By advantageously employing and providing both actual data via thedosimeter 32 and planned data via the planner routine 64, additionaluseful information can be developed and visually depicted as visualindicia on the glasses 20 and/or the visual display 16. For example, avariance time left 96 can be calculated by dividing the actual time leftby the planned time left and subtracting one therefrom. If the resultantvalue is greater than 0.1, by way of example, as at 100, a visualindicium 102 such as an upward pointing arrow can be output on theglasses 20 and/or the visual display 16 to indicate that the variancetime left trend at any given moment is favorable. On the other hand, ifthe value is determined, as at 106, to be less than −0.1, an alternativevisual indicium 110 that depicts an exemplary downward pointing arrowcould be visually output on the glasses 20 and/or the visual display 16to represent that the variance time left trend is unfavorable. Stillalternatively, if the variance time left determined at 96 is neithergreater than 0.1 nor less than −0.1, a further alternative indicium 114can be visually output on the glasses 20 and/or the visual display 16 torepresent that the variance time left trend is essentially on track.

While the variance time left trend that is determined at 96 is in thenature of a trend rather than an instantaneous value, it is noted thatthe set of measured dose rate 40 can be further manipulated, as at 118and 122. More specifically, the variance time left that is determined at96 can have subtracted therefrom the immediately prior variance timeleft value to provide more of an instantaneous determination of variancetime left. For instance, if the difference between any given variancetime left and the immediately preceding variance time left is greaterthan 0.1, another visual indicium 130 can be output on the glasses 20and/or the visual display 16 to indicate that the instantaneous variabletime left is favorable by depicting an upward pointing arrow.Alternatively, if the difference is determined at 134 to be less than−0.1, the instantaneous value might result in the outputting of anothervisual indicium 138 that is represented by a downward pointing arrow,which would suggest that the instantaneous difference is unfavorable,meaning that the variance time left had just become unfavorable. Stillalternatively, if it is determined at 134 that the difference determinedat 118 and 122 is not less than −0.1, a further visual indicium 142could be output on the glasses 20 and/or the visual display 16 in theform of a horizontal arrow which would suggest that the instantaneousvalue difference is on track.

It is understood that the visual indicia 102, 110, and 114 reflect atrend in the variance time left. In contrast, the visual indicia 130,138, and 142 are directed more toward an instantaneous value for thevariance time left rather than a trend. As such, the instantaneousvariance time left 122 and the trend variance 96 can be completelydifferent from one another.

It is also possible to determine, as at 146, a variance trend in theaccumulated dose, which is calculated by dividing the actual accumulatedradiation dose 88 by the planned accumulated dose 72 and subtracting onetherefrom. If the resultant value is determined, as at 150, to be lessthan −0.1, an additional visual indicium 154 which is depicted as anexemplary upward pointing arrow can be output on the glasses 20 and/orthe visual display 16, indicating that the variance trend in accumulateddose is favorable. On the other hand, it may be determined, as at 158,that the variance trend accumulated dose is greater than 0.1, in whichcase an alternative visual indicium 162 can be output on the glasses 20and/or the visual display 16, indicating that the variance trend inaccumulated dose 146 is unfavorable. Still alternatively, if it isdetermined at 158 that the variance trend is not greater than 0.1, afurther alternative visual indicium 166 can be output on the glasses 20and/or the visual display 16 in the form of an exemplary horizontalarrow, which represents that the variance trend accumulated dose 146 ison track.

It is noted that the variance time left trend indicia 102, 110, and 114are alternatives of one another and only one of such indicia would bevisually output at any given time. Likewise, the visual indicia 130,138, and 142 are alternatives of one another, and only one of whichwould be output at any given time. Furthermore, the visual indicia 154,162, and 166 are alternatives of one another, and only one of whichwould be output at any given time. It is noted, however, that whicheverof the visual indicia 130, 138, and 142 is displayed would be output inaddition to whichever of the indicia 102, 110, and 114 is displayed andwhichever of the indicia 154, 162, and 166 is displayed. As such, theglasses 20 and/or the visual display 16 would include one of the indicia102, 110, and 114 representative of the variance time left trend inaddition to one of the indicia 130, 138, and 142 representative of theinstantaneous variance time left and one of the indicia 154, 162, and166 that is representative of the variance trend in accumulated dose.

It thus can be seen that the glasses 20 and/or the visual display 16 cannot only output the planned time left 80 and an actual time left 92,both in numerical form, the glasses 20 and/or the visual display 16 canadditionally include visual depictions of the variance time left trend,the instantaneous variance time left, and the variance trend accumulateddose. The latter three values would be depicted in easily understoodforms, such as the aforementioned upward-pointing arrows,downward-pointing arrows, and horizontal arrows, or other such indicia,and may additionally or alternatively include color such as green, red,yellow, and the like to indicate favorable, unfavorable, and on-trackvalues. Other variations will be apparent.

FIG. 4 depicts in diagrammatic form the various data sources thatgenerate data which together are stored as the set of measured dose ratedata 40 in the database 170 which can be understood to be approximatelyin the form of a table that includes a location within the RCA 8 in theform of x, y coordinates, a dose rate designated as “DR” and which isthe dose rate that was detected at such location, and a “TIME” valuewhich is the time stamp when the dose rate was detected at suchlocation. The various data values are recorded on a continuous basis,and the system can include a loop to delete duplicate values that mightbe recorded when the worker 28 is stationary, by way of example.

Not only can the data values and the visual indicia that are depicted inFIG. 2 be visually output on the glasses 20 and/or the visual display16, the set of measured dose rate data 40 can be employed to generateand output the dosage rate map 55 that is depicted in FIG. 1 as beingoutput on the visual display 16. It is expressly noted that the dosagerate map 55 can additionally or alternatively be output on the glasses20 for use by the worker 28.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, the first visual object 56 is a schematicdepiction of the RCA 8. The second visual objects 60 are situated withrespect to the first visual object 56 in a fashion that represents thearrangement of the various locations within the RCA 8 where the variousdosage measurements were recorded. The second visual objects 60additionally depict the dosage rate that was recorded. In the depictedexemplary embodiment, these dosage rates are depicted by the secondvisual objects 60 in a numerical fashion, meaning that the second visualobjects 60 each include an indicium in the form of at least a firstnumeral, but it is understood that the data could alternatively oradditionally be conveyed in terms of color, and the like to otherwisedepict the dosage rate data. The dose rate data may be taken directlyfrom the set of measured dose rate data 40 or it could be averaged inany of a wide variety of fashions or could be otherwise processed. Stillalternatively, the values could be normalized if appropriate.Furthermore, it is understood that the dose rate that is output on thevisual display 16 is going to be the most current dose rate that isavailable, meaning that it reflects the most recent dose ratemeasurement that has been taken in a given area within the RCA 8. Forexample, the displayed dose rate in the vicinity where the worker 28 issituated is likely to be accurate and correct, i.e., current, due torepeated dose rate measurements by the dosimeter 32. On the other hand,only a single dose rate may have been recorded for other locationswithin the RCA 8, and the single dose rate may have been recorded atsome time in the past. The single dose rate will still be output if itis the most current dose rate that is available within the set ofmeasured dose rate data 40. In this regard, it is understood that theset of measured dose rate data 40 is a data record that is beingcontinually updated with each additional stored data entry in the formof a new measurement of a dose rate from the dosimeter 32 or anothersuch dosimeter, a corresponding location where the dose rate wasmeasured, and a time stamp of when the dose rate was measured. Whateverdata are the most current are used to generate the second visual objects60. Only a representative number of second visual objects 60 aredepicted in FIG. 1, and it is understood that probably many more suchsecond visual objects 60 could be output on the glasses 20 and/or thevisual display 16 as the set of measured dose rate data 40 is developedon an ongoing basis over a period of time.

FIG. 5 depicts a flowchart that demonstrates certain aspects of animproved method in accordance with the disclosed and claimed concept. Asnoted above, the dosimeter 32 can be positioned on the worker 28 andthereby caused to move with the worker 28 from one position to anotherwithin the RCA 8 as the worker 28 takes steps necessary to perform themaintenance operation or other operation therein. Any number of otherdosimeters 32 can likewise be situated in the RCA 8, such as if they areplaced on other workers or if they are situated stationary at oneposition or another within the RCA 8, etc. For any one or more of thedosimeters 32 within the RCA 8, the method begins, as at 205, withperiodically detecting from the dosimeter 32 a measured dose rate thatis representative of a rate at which the dosimeter 32 is exposed toionizing radiation.

Processing continues, as at 210, with the detecting of a position withinthe RCA 8 where the dosimeter 32 was situated when the dose ratemeasurement was detected. In this regard, it is noted that theexpression “position” and variations thereof is intended to refer hereinto the x, y, z coordinates within the RCA 8 where the dosimeter 32 wassituated when the dose rate was measured. As will be set forth ingreater detail below, the expression “location” and variations thereofis intended to refer to the x, y, z coordinates within the RCA 8 forwhich a dose rate is output on the visual display 16. While thelocations may be the same as the positions, they likewise may bedifferent. In this regard, it is expressly noted that the variousdosimeters 32 might detect actual dose rates at numerous positionswithin the RCA, and many such dose rate measurements may be within veryclose proximity of one another. As such, it may be more visuallyunderstandable to the worker 28 to output as the dosage rate map 55 aset of the most current dose rates at regularly spaced-apart positionswithin the RCA 8, wherein such locations are located on a virtual gridwithin the RCA 8. In the depicted exemplary embodiment, the virtual gridwould virtually define a plurality of three-dimensional rectangularvirtual areas within the RCA, and every time a dose rate measurementfrom a dosimeter 32 is determined to have been measured in anyparticular virtual area, the detected dose rate is determined to be themost current dose rate in that virtual area. As such, instead ofoutputting a large number of dose rates that are in close proximity toone another, the dosage rate map 55 will include only a single dose rateas being the most current dose rate for the entire virtual area. Themost current dose rate for a virtual area will be determined based uponthe dose rates that were detected within the virtual area. For instance,the most current dose rate could be the highest dose rate detected inthat virtual area, or it may be based upon an average of the dose ratesmeasured in the virtual area, or it can be based upon any calculationmethodology that may be preferred in any particular virtual area for anyparticular maintenance operation or other operation. Other variations onhow this can be accomplished will be apparent and are considered to bewithin the spirit of the instant disclosure.

As such, in some embodiments of the disclosed and claimed concept, thedosage rate map 55 potentially may include visual objects that arerepresentative of actual positions where actual dose rates were detectedwithin the RCA 8. It is noted, however, that in other embodiments of thedisclosed and claimed concept, the actual measured dose rates might beemployed to calculate, such as via interpolation, averaging, and thelike, a set of calculated dose rates at specific locations within theRCA to create the dosage rate map 55. Either such methodology willresult in a set of most current dose rates depicted via the dosage ratemap 55.

It is noted that the predetermined locations need not be evenly spacedalong a grid, and rather they may be selected on a practical basis. Forexample, the bottom of a set of stairs may not be associated with anactual dose rate that was measured at the bottom of the stairs, but itmay be worthwhile to employ the data from the other locations within theRCA where dose rate data was actually recorded in order to generate andoutput an estimation (based upon the recorded dose rate data) as to whatthe dose rate is understood to be at the bottom of the set of stairs.Other examples will be apparent.

Processing then continues, as at 215, where the dose rate and thecorresponding position within the RCA 8 where the dose rate was measuredare recorded as a data entry in the database 170. In this regard, thedata entry might additionally include a time stamp generated by thesystem clock 34 whereupon the data entry will include the measured doserate, the corresponding position where the dose rate was detected, andthe corresponding time at which the dose rate was detected. While suchtime stamp is optional, it can be used to determine what are the mostcurrent data values that have been recorded, and such time stamps arefurther useful in order to determine trends in dose rates and the like.

Processing then continues, as at 220, where the data record, i.e., thedatabase 170 that includes the data entries, is employed to determine anumber of most current dose rates and corresponding locations. As notedabove, the “locations” may refer to places where a dose rate wasactually directly measured via a dosimeter 32 or it may refer to a placefor which a dose rate is calculated based upon a number of nearbydirectly measured dose rates. The dose rates that are determined at 220are most typically going to be based upon the dose rates that are themost current, i.e., that have been detected and recorded more recentlythan other dose rate data that may have been measured in the same placesat earlier times. Since dose rates are unlikely to be simultaneouslydetected everywhere within the RCA 8, it is understood that some of thedose rate data may be more current than other dose rate data, but as ageneral matter the dose rates that are determined at 220 for use in thedosage rate map 55 will based upon whatever dose rate data is the mostcurrent.

Processing then continues, as at 225, where the computer 12 outputs onthe visual display 16 or on the glasses 20 or both a visual output inthe form of the dosage rate map 55. The dosage rate map 55 includes anumber of visual objects which are each representative of a most currentdose rate and a corresponding location. In this regard, the dosage ratemap 55 includes the aforementioned first visual object 56 which is inthe form of a representation of the RCA 8. The number of second visualobjects 60 each include one or more indicia that are representative of amost current dose rate and a corresponding location where the mostcurrent dose rate can be said to exist.

In the depicted exemplary embodiment, one indicium possessed by each ofthe second visual objects 60 is a numeric representation of the currentdose rate. Each of the second visual objects 60 further includes asanother indium a relative positioning of itself on the visual display 16relative to the first visual object 56 which indicates the correspondinglocation in the RCA 8 with which the current dose rate is associated.That is, an exemplary one of the second visual objects 60 depicted inFIG. 1 includes as one indium the digits “25” as being representative ofthe current dose rate, and such exemplary second visual object 60further includes as another indicium its being situated at the uppermostright corner of the dosage rate map 55 (which positioning isrepresentative of the current dose rate of “25” being situated in theupper right corner of the interior of the RCA 8 as represented by thefirst visual object 56). Such dual indicia indicate the current doserate of “25” and the corresponding location within the RCA 8 where thecurrent dose rate of “25” exists.

In the depicted exemplary embodiment, each of the second visual objects60 in FIG. 1 includes additional indicia that are further representativeof the dose rate. That is, in addition to the indicium of each of thesecond visual objects 60 to numerically depict the current dose rate,each of the second visual objects 60 includes as another indicium acolor that is representative of the dose rate. For instance, the highestdose rates can be depicted in numerals that are red in color, and lowerdose rates can be indicated by numerals depicted in other colorsdifferent than red. For example, three of the second visual objects 60depicted in the upper right of the dosage rate map 55 are surrounded bya border 65 and are additionally output in numerals that are red incolor. Additionally, the border 65 itself may be red in color or may beanother color or may flash or may provide some other visual indicia thatbring to the attention of the worker 28 the fact that those threeadjacent locations in the RCA 8 (as indicated by the locations at whichthe second visual objects 60 are situated with respect to the firstvisual object 56) are at a relatively high dose rate, meaning that anyobject that is placed at such locations would experience a high doserate of ionizing radiation.

In contrast, another set of second visual objects 60 are depicted inFIG. 1 as being situated at the lower left of the dosage rate map 55,and each of the second visual objects 60 in such region are formed fromnumerals that represent that relatively low dose rates exist in suchregion, which likely would be an ALARA region. Such ALARA region issurrounded by another border 69 that is likewise intended to visuallybring itself to the attention of the worker 28. The second visualobjects 60 that are situated within the border 69 are themselves, inaddition to including numerals that numerically output the current doserate at such locations, are depicted using numerals that are printed ina color such as blue which is representative of the fact that the doserates at such locations are relatively low.

In this regard, it can be seen that the color blue that is used todepict the second visual objects 60 within the border 69 is a color thatis different than the color red that is used to depict the second visualobjects 60 that are within the border 65. Such difference between thecolor red and the color blue is intended to visually bring to theattention of the worker 28 the fact that two different regions withinthe RCA 8 are of significantly different dose rates. Colors between theaforementioned exemplary blue and red may be assigned based upon thethen most current dose rate of any given location, and such colors may,for example, span the visual light spectrum between blue and red whengoing from relatively lower dose rates to relatively higher dose rates.

It is noted that such colors may, for instance, be selected based uponpredetermined thresholds of dose rate. For example, a dose rate that isrepresented by numerals 1.0 or lower might be depicted in the color bluewhereas dose rates represented by the numerals 30 or higher might beindicated in red. Variations will be apparent. The border 69 itself maylikewise be depicted in blue and/or may be flashing in order to furtherrapidly bring itself to the attention of the user. In this regard, theborder 65 may flash at a relatively fast rate, and the border 69 mayflash at a relatively slower rate, with such varying flashing ratesfurther being indicative of the dose rate of the locations containedwithin such borders 65 and 69. Furthermore, shading, crosshatching, andthe like may additionally be present within such borders 65 and 69 ifthat is deemed to be desirable to make it more readily visually apparentto the worker 28.

It is understood that virtually any type of visual element can be usedif that visual element is configured to be representative of a mostcurrent dose rate to the worker 28. For example, in certain embodimentit is possible that color alone may be employed in order to depict doserate, or the flash rate of a visual object alone may be representativeof a current dose rate (i.e., faster flashing would indicate a higherdose rate and vice-versa).

It is understood that by visually outputting the first and second visualobjects 56 and 60 on the visual display 16, a supervisor or technicianor other individual could use the dosage rate map 55 to map out an exitpath and/or an entrance path for the worker 28 along a path of a minimaldose rates. Moreover, the dosage rate map 55 depicted on the glasses 20could be observed by the worker 28 and used by the worker 28 to identifya path of reduced dose rate. In this regard, an instantaneous locationof the worker 28 potentially could be output as another visual object onthe dosage rate map 55 in order to advise the worker 28 where the worker28 is situated in the RCA 8 at any given time.

It thus can be seen that the system 4 advantageously can output on theglasses 20 and/or the visual display 16 a set of continually updateddata represented by any of a variety of visual indicia, either in anumeric format or a symbolic format or in one or more colors, or anycombination thereof, and can additionally visually display the dosagerate map 55 thereon. Such visual outputs assist the worker indetermining whether the worker 28 needs to exit the RCA 8 or whether theworker 28 has additional time to complete the various tasks of anoperation. Such data output on the visual display 16, which may besituated outside the RCA 8, enables a supervisor or other individual tomonitor the progress of the worker 28 and to map out the various tasksthat the worker 28 is to perform as well as the specific paths to followwithin the RCA 8. By providing the data on a continually updated basis,the worker 28 and other personnel are continually updated regarding thedosage rates and time remaining, as well as the instantaneous andtrending aspects of such values, as well as other values. The provisionof such data makes the most efficient use of the worker's time withinthe RCA, thereby saving cost and improving performance. Other benefitswill be apparent.

An improved welding apparatus 304 is depicted generally in FIG. 6. Thewelding apparatus 304 is usable by the worker 28 to perform a weldingoperation either within the RCA 8 or outside of it. While the exemplaryapparatus that is being used by the worker 28 to perform an operation isthe exemplary welding apparatus 304, it is understood that the teachingsherein can be applied to other equipment that is used to perform otheroperations without departing from the spirit of the instant disclosure.As is indicated in FIG. 6, the worker 28 can continue to carry thedosimeter 32 and the tablet 24 if this is desirable in an environment303 such as that within which the welding operation is being performed.

The welding apparatus 304 can be said to include a welding instrument306 and a heat source 310 that are connected together. The weldinginstrument 306 is configured to be held manually by the worker 28, as isdepicted in FIG. 6, and is a device that actually performs the weldingoperation on a workpiece. For instance, the welding instrument 306 maybe a Metal Inert Gas (MIG) gun, and arc welding electrode, anoxyacetylene torch, or the like, it being noted that numerous otherwelding technologies exist and which could be performed by the weldingapparatus 304 depending upon the configuration of the welding instrument306 and the heat source 310, by way of example. The heat source 310 is asource of heat that performs the welding operation and can be any of awide variety of pieces of equipment depending upon the weldingtechnology that may be involved. For instance, the heat source 310 maybe a source of welding electricity in the form of a welding machine thatis connected with an electrical utility, for instance, and which hasdials or the like that can set the various parameters of the electricalpower that will be provided to the welding instrument 306 during thewelding operation, such as settings for current, voltage, type ofcurrent (AC or DC), etc., by way of example. Alternatively, the heatsource 310 could be a source of one or more combustible welding gases,such as acetylene and oxygen, by way of example. The specificconfiguration of the welding instrument 306 and the heat source 310 canvary widely depending upon the welding technology that is being employedby the welding apparatus 304.

The welding apparatus 304 further includes a number of detectors 312 andadditionally includes a computer 316 that is connected with thedetectors 312. The detectors 312 are configured to detect variousparameters that pertain to the welding operation that is being performedby the worker 28 in using the welding apparatus 304. As will be setforth in greater detail below, the number of parameters include a numberof operational parameters that pertain to the welding operation itselfand further include a number of environmental parameters that pertain tothe environment 303 in which the welding operation is being performed.The detectors 312 detect properties of the welding apparatus 304 and ofthe environment 303 and periodically provide inputs to the computer 316that are representative of the detected properties. The computer 316then employs certain of the inputs in order to derive values for thevarious operational and environmental parameters that are intended to bemonitored by the computer 316 and the welding apparatus 304.

The welding apparatus 304 further includes an auxiliary supply system318 that is configured to provide materials and the like that areappropriate to the welding technology that is being employed by thewelding apparatus 304. For instance, if the welding apparatus 304employs MIG technology, the auxiliary supply system 318 would include,for instance, a tank or other supply of inert gas and would also includea spool or other supply of wire that is intended to be melted in formingthe weld. The auxiliary supply system 318 can be configured to provideany materials or the like that are needed in order to perform aparticular welding operation with the welding apparatus 304.

The welding apparatus 304 is advantageously in wireless communicationwith the glasses 20 and is operable to cause the glasses 20 to output anumber of visual displays that include various visual indicia that arerepresentative of the values of the operational and environmentalparameters that are determined by the welding apparatus 304 based uponthe properties that are detected by the detectors. The glasses 20include one or more electronic visual displays that are at leastpartially translucent. As employed herein, the expression “translucent”shall refer broadly to a property of transmitting visible lighttherethrough. The glasses 20 are envisioned to be in wirelesscommunication with the welding apparatus 304, but a wired connectiontherebetween can be employed depending upon the needs of the particularapplication.

As noted above, the detectors 312 are different configurations that areconfigured to detect different properties of the welding apparatus 304and the environment 303. For instance, the detectors 312 can be said toinclude a voltmeter 312A, an ammeter 312B, a rotation encoder 312C, atank pressure sensor 312D, a regulated pressure sensor 312E, a deliverypressure sensor 312F, a flow meter 312G, an oxygen detector 312H, acarbon monoxide sensor 312I, and an optical thermographic sensor 312J,which can be collectively or individually referred to herein with thenumeral 312. The detectors 312 can include additional detectors oralternative detectors or both without departing from the spirit of theinstant disclosure. For instance, the voltmeter 312A measures thevoltage of the electrical current that is being provided from the heatsource 310 to the welding instrument 306, and the ammeter 312B measuresthe amount of current that is being provided from the heat source 310 tothe welding instrument 306. The rotation encoder 312C is a device thatrotates when wire from the wire supply of the auxiliary supply system318 is delivered to the weld and responsively outputs electrical pulsesthat are detected by the computer 316. The tank pressure sensor 312Ddetects the pressure within the gas tank(s) of the auxiliary supplysystem 318 or the heat source 310 or both. The regulated pressure sensor312E detects the pressure of gas, after being regulated by a pressureregulator, that is being supplied to the welding instrument 306 from theauxiliary supply system 318 or the heat source 310, or both. Thedelivery pressure sensor 312F detects the pressure of gas that is beingprovided at the welding instrument 306. The flow meter 312G measures theflow rate(s) of gases that are being supplied to the welding instrument306. The aforementioned detectors 312A-G can be said to be configured todetect operational properties of the welding apparatus 304.

The detectors 312H-J can be said to detect environmental propertieswithin the environment 303 where the welding operation is beingperformed. For instance, the oxygen detector 312H detects an oxygenlevel in the environment 303. As can be readily understood, a conditionwithin the environment 303 wherein the oxygen level is increased beyondthat typically found in the atmosphere (i.e., 20.95% O₂) or that isdecreased below that which is typically found in the atmosphere isdangerous, and such a condition is desirably brought promptly to theattention of the worker 28. The carbon monoxide sensor 312I detects theexistence of carbon monoxide in the environment 303, it being understoodthat the presence of any meaningful amount of carbon monoxide is adangerous condition within the environment 303 and is desirably broughtpromptly to the attention of the worker 28. The optical thermographicsensor 312J is configured to detect the existence of a fire within theenvironment 303 which, for obvious reasons, is desirably broughtpromptly to the attention of the worker 28.

All of the detectors 312 in the depicted exemplary embodiment are shownas being situated on the heat source 310 (which includes therein theauxiliary supply system 318) except for the delivery pressure sensor312F which is depicted as being situated on the welding instrument 306.It is understood, that such schematic positioning is merely exemplary innature, and it is noted that the various detectors 312 can be situatedotherwise without departing from the spirit of the instant disclosure.For instance, the optical thermographic sensor 312J might be mountedelsewhere in order to have a better ability to detect the existence offire. Numerous variations will be apparent.

As noted above, the various detectors 312 detect properties of thewelding apparatus 304 and the environment 303 and provide outputs thatare periodically received as inputs by the computer 316 and that areindicative of the detected properties. The computer 316 employs variousroutines in order to derive from the measured properties a value foreach of a variety of parameters of the welding apparatus 304 and theenvironment 303. Some of the parameters can be directly measured by thedetectors 312 whereas other parameters will be derived from the detectedproperties. For instance, the rotation encoder 312C will output a seriesof pulses as it rotates when the wire that is being fed from theauxiliary supply system 318 is delivered to the welding instrument 306.The computer 316 has stored therein a routine that detects the pulsesfrom the rotation encoder 312C and converts the detected pulses into awire feed rate of a certain length of wire per unit time, by way ofexample. The tank pressure sensor 312D directly measures the pressurewithin the tank(s) of the heat source 310 or the auxiliary supply system318, or both, and while such tank pressure is a parameter of the weldingapparatus 304 that may desirably be output on the glasses 20, themeasured tank pressure can also be employed to derive the amount of thecontents that remain in the tank(s), by way of example. Alternatively,the amount of the contents that remain in the tank(s) might be derivedfrom the output signal from the flow meter 312G. Other variations willbe apparent.

The welding apparatus 304 is advantageously configured to generate anumber of visual displays, such as the visual display 326 that isdepicted in FIG. 7A, and to output the visual display on the glasses 20.In the depicted exemplary embodiment, the visual display 326 includes anumber of visual indicia 330 that are representative of values of theparameters that have been generated by the computer 316 based upon theinputs to the computer from the detectors 312. The various exemplaryvisual indicia 330 that are depicted in FIG. 7A include a currentindicium 330A, a voltage indicium 330B, a feed rate indicium 330C, afluid flow rate indicium 330D, a tank pressure indicium 330E, a deliverypressure indicium 330F, and a tank fullness indicium 330G, which may becollectively or individually referred to herein with the numeral 330.The current indicium 330A is of an analog nature in that includes adepiction of a needle 334 that is depicted superimposed on a depictionof a dial 336 that includes a pair of reference values 338A and 338B.The position of the needle 334 with respect to the reference values 338Aand 338B visually depicts the amount of current that is being providedfrom the heat source 310 to the welding instrument 306. The currentindicium 330A further includes a numeric output 334 that provides anumeric indication of the current that is being provided from the heatsource 310 to the welding instrument 306.

All of the elements in the current indicium 330A, and indeed all of theelements in all of the visual indicia 330 in the depicted exemplaryembodiment, are visual objects that are created by the computer 316 andthat are output on the glasses 20. The current indicium 330A can be saidto include an analog visual indicium inasmuch as it includes the needle334 situated on the dial 336 in a position in relation to the first andsecond reference values 338A and 338B whereby the position of the needle334 visually indicates the amount of current that is being provided bythe heat source 310 to the welding instrument 306. The reference values338A and 338B each include both a graduation mark that is indicated onthe perimeter of the dial 336 and a calibration value “100” and “110”,respectively, that indicates the numeric value of the correspondinggraduation mark. The reference values 338A and 338B may simply beprovided in order to indicate in a visual fashion the current that isbeing supplied from the heat source 310 to the welding instrument 306,by way of example.

On the other hand, the reference values 338A and 338B potentially couldbe a part of a pre-existing specification for the weld that is beingformed on the workpiece as part of the welding operation. Such apre-existing specification of the weld might include, for instance, atarget current value, a tolerance from that target current value,specifications for voltages, delivery pressure of inert gas, wire feedrate, and the like without limitation, and by way of example. Such apre-existing specification of the weld might have been entered into thewelding apparatus 304 by the worker 28 or may have been otherwisereceived thereon. In such a situation, by providing the current indicium330A that indicates not only the current that is being provided to thewelding instrument 306 but also indicates the current level in relationto the pair of tolerance reference values 338A and 338B, the worker 28can be apprised of the fact that the current level may be approaching anupper limit or a lower limit as specified by the pre-existingspecification. More specifically, the worker 28 is apprised of this factprior to the current level meeting or exceeding the specified currentlimits. This advantageously enables the worker 28 to correct anyshortcomings with the operation prior to the operation going outside thepre-established specification for the welding operation. Thisadvantageously avoids the need to have the weld cut out and reformed.The avoidance of such reworking is advantageous.

One additional aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept is simplystreaming a video of a data screen of the welding apparatus 304 to theworker 28, which could likewise be communicated wirelessly to theglasses 20 and visually output thereon. This would have the same effectas sending a digital signal from a sensor on the welding apparatus 304to the glasses 20 for display. For instance, a camera could bepositioned in proximity to the data screen on the heat source 310 andwould capture video of the various analog or digital outputs on the datascreen, which video would be visually output on the glasses 20. Othervariations will be apparent.

The various other visual indicia 330B-G are depicted in FIG. 7A as beingoutput in a numeric fashion, but it is understood that such visualindicia can additionally or alternatively or both be output in an analogfashion, such as with a needle like that employed by the currentindicium 330A, or otherwise, to provide a visual analog output of thecurrent.

Further advantageously, the worker 28 (or another individual) can selectthe specific way in which the various visual indicia 330 are output onthe glasses 20, and the visual display 326 of FIG. 7A is merely oneexample of one way in which the visual indicia 330 can be visuallyoutput. For instance, the computer 316 includes a graphics engine 331that interfaces with the glasses 20 and that enables the worker 28 tospecify which parameters are to be output as visual indicia 330 on theglasses 20, the location of such visual indicia, and the specific format(e.g., numeric or any of a variety of analog depictions) in which eachsuch visual indicium is to be depicted.

By way of example, FIG. 7B depicts another exemplary visual display 426that can be visually output on the glasses 20 if selected by the worker28. It is noted that the visual display 426 includes a number of visualindicia 430, some of which are visually different in some way than thevisual indicia 330, but that visually output the same intellectualcontent as the visual indicia 330. Furthermore, while the exemplaryparameters that are visually output as the visual indicia 330 are thesame as those output as the visual indicia 430 in the visual display426, it is understood that the worker 28 can decide which parameters tooutput on the glasses 20. Thus, the visual displays 326 and 426 mighteach include one or more visual indicia 330 and 430, respectively, thatindicate parameters that are not shown in the other and that may includeparameters different than or additional to or both than those depictedin the visual displays 326 and 426. Again, the worker 28 is able tocustomize the visual display that is provided on the glasses 20 to suitthe needs of the worker 28 and the operation.

As can further be seen in FIG. 7B, the visual indicia 430 include acurrent indicium 430, a voltage indicium 430B, a feed rate indicium430C, a fluid flow indicium 430D, a tank pressure indicium 430E, adelivery pressure indicium 430F, and a tank fullness indicium 430G,which may be collectively or individually referred to herein within thenumeral 430 and which are in some ways similar to the visual indicia330B-G in FIG. 7A. That is, all of the visual indicia 330B-G and thecorresponding visual indicia 430B-G are all of a numeric nature, andsome are situated at different positions on the visual displays 326 and426. As suggested above, any of the aforementioned visual indicia 330and 430 could instead be depicted in an analog fashion or could beabsent and/or could be replaced with other visual indicia representativeof other parameters, and could also be positioned elsewhere on thevisual displays 326 and 426 depending upon the output format that isselected by the worker 28.

In the depicted exemplary embodiment, the current indicium 430A includesan indicator 434 that is depicted as being a dot from which a trace line436 emanates as a function of time to the right of the indicator 434.The exemplary indicator 434 and trace line 436 thus operate as a controlchart, examples of which include a needle mark traced onto a movingsheet of paper or an ECG trace, by way of example. The current indicium430 includes a pair of reference values 438A and 438B that include bothgraduation marks and corresponding numeric calibration values situatedbelow and above the indicator 434. The exemplary current indicium 430Afurther includes a pair of threshold values 440A and 440B that areindicated with dashed-line graduation marks and that represent thresholdvalues that would have been input as part of a pre-existingspecification for the weld that is being formed by the welding apparatus304. The threshold values 440A and 440B are greater than the minimumvalue and less than the maximum value, respectively, of current as setforth in the pre-established specification of the weld and would be metprior to meeting the lower and upper current limits of “100” and “110”,respectively, from the specification.

In this regard, another optional output that can be provided by thecomputer 316 is a set of notifications that are additional to thecurrent indicium 430A, by way of example. For instance, depending uponthe options selected by the worker 28, the computer 316 can output afirst notification when the current value meets one of the thresholdvalues 440A or 440B, and can output a second, different notificationwhen either of the minimum or maximum current values “100” and “110”,respectively, is reached, and can output a third notification in theevent that the minimum or maximum current value is exceeded. Suchnotifications can be audible or visual or both or can take another formaltogether without departing from the spirit of the instant disclosure.Any of a wide variety of visual and/or audible and/or other types ofnotifications can be envisioned.

Another visual display 526 including visual indicia 530 in the form of asingle fire warning indicium 530H is depicted in FIG. 7C. The firewarning indicium 530H is a textual spelling of the word “FIRE!” that isdepicted on the glasses 20 and which takes the place of all other visualindicia on the visual display 526 in the depicted exemplary embodiment.This is intended to immediately gain the attention of the worker 28 dueto such a potentially dangerous condition. It is understood that thefire warning indicium 530H is based upon a detection by the opticalthermographic sensor 312J of the presence of a fire, and it isunderstood that the fire warning indicium 530H could itself take otherforms such as employing graphical objects, color, and the like, and maybe accompanied by audible and other notifications, and it potentiallymay additionally be accompanied by notifications that are sentelectronically to the system 4 for communication to supervisors and thelike.

In a like fashion, another exemplary visual display 626 is depicted inFIG. 7D as having visual indicia 630 in the form of a single gas warningindicium 630H in the form of the textual word “GAS!” that is depicted onthe glasses 20. Again, the visual display 626 includes only the gaswarning indicium 630H in order to rapidly gain the attention of theworker 28. As before, the gas warning indicium 630H may be visuallydifferent than that pictured in FIG. 7 and may be accompanied by audibleor other notifications and other actions being taken to alertmanagement. It is understood that the gas warning indicium 630H in FIG.7D could indicate any one or more of the existence of increased oxygen,decreased oxygen, and carbon monoxide, and it additionally could referto any other gas whose presence has been detected by one of thedetectors 312, depending upon the configuration of the welding apparatus304. By way of example, the gas warning indicium 630H couldalternatively be “INCREASED GAS!” or “CARBON MONOXIDE GAS!”, by way ofexample. Other types of visual indicia will be apparent.

As can be understood from FIG. 8, the computer 316 can be said toinclude a processor apparatus 746 having a processor 750 and a storage752 that are connected with one another. The processor 750 can be any ofa wide variety of processors, such as a microprocessor, by way ofexample, and the storage 752 can be any one or more of RAM, ROM, EPROM,FLASH, and the like by way of example and without limitation, and whichserves as storage area on the computer 316. The storage 752 has storedtherein a number of routines 756 that include instructions which, whenexecuted on the processor 750, cause the computer 316 and the weldingapparatus 304 and the glasses 20 to perform certain operations. In thisregard, it is understood that the glasses 20 may be considered to be apart of the welding apparatus 304.

The computer 316 further includes an input apparatus 758 that isconnected with the processor 750 and which provides input signals to theprocessor apparatus 746. The input apparatus 758 is connected with thedetectors 312 and can include other input sources such as a keypad, amouse, a microphone for voice-based commands, and the like by way ofexample and without limitation. The pre-established specification forthe weld operation can be entered via the input apparatus 758.

The computer 316 further includes an output apparatus 762 that isconnected with the processor 750 and that receives output signals fromthe processor apparatus 746. In the depicted exemplary embodiment, theoutput apparatus 762 can include a wireless transceiver that iswirelessly connected with the glasses 20 in order to provide visualoutput on the glasses 20. The output apparatus 762 can additionally beconnected with a loudspeaker that may be situated in proximity to an earof the worker 28 or can be otherwise situated. The output apparatus 762can additionally be connected with an input to the system 4 which canprovide warning notifications pertaining to the existence of fire orother gas irregularity within the environment 303. Other examples willbe apparent.

FIG. 9 depicts a flowchart that indicates aspects of an improved methodin accordance with the disclosed and claimed concept. Processing can besaid to begin, as at 804, where the computer 316 periodically receivesfrom the detectors 312 a number of inputs that are representative of theproperties of the welding apparatus 304 and the environment 303.Processing then continues, as at 716, where the computer 316periodically employs at least some of the inputs from the detectors 312to determine a value for at least a subset of the parameters, whichcould include one or more operational parameters of the weldingapparatus 304 or one or more environmental parameters of the environment303 or both. Processing then continues, as at 830, where the computer316 and, more particularly, the graphics engine 331 thereof, depicts onthe glasses 20 a number of visual indicia, such as the visual indicia330, 430, 530, 630, etc., on an electronic visual display of the glasses20 that is situated on the worker 28 and that is disposed proximate aneye of the worker 28. As noted elsewhere herein, the glasses 20 includean electronic visual display that is at least partially translucent, andthus the worker 28 can see not only the light rays from the environment303 shining through the glasses 20, but the worker 28 can additionallyvisually perceive the visual indicia 330, 430, 530, 630, etc. Othervariations will be apparent.

Advantageously, therefore, the welding apparatus 304 is configured tooutput on the glasses 20 a number of visual indicia that arerepresentative of the values of one or more of the parameters of thewelding apparatus 304 and the environment 303, as selected by the worker28. The visual indicia are continually updated to reflect continuallyupdated values for the parameters, which are based upon theperiodically-received inputs from the detectors 312. The visual indiciaprovide to the worker 28 information regarding the values of theoperational parameters of the welding apparatus 304 and theenvironmental parameters of the environment 303 to keep the worker 28informed about the progress of the operation and the environment 303 inwhich the operation is being conducted. Such visual indicia can advisethe worker that the operation potentially is about to meet or exceed apre-established specification of the welding operation or otheroperation or a pre-established threshold thereof prior to the operationactually reaches or exceeds one of the pre-established limits of thepre-established specification or a threshold thereof. Thisadvantageously avoids reworking and the like. Moreover, the ability ofthe welding apparatus 304 to output warnings to the worker with regardto dangers in the environment 303 additionally provides a beneficialmeasure of safety, which is desirable. Other benefits will be apparent.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been described indetail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and alternatives to those details could be developed inlight of the overall teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, theparticular embodiments disclosed are meant to be illustrative only andnot limiting as to the scope of the invention which is to be given thefull breadth of the appended claims and any and all equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of visually outputting to a workerduring the performance of an operation that is being performed at leastin part by the worker a number of visible indicia that are continuallyupdated and that are representative of a number of parameters thatpertain to the operation, the method comprising: periodically receivinga number of inputs from a number of detectors; periodically employing atleast some of the inputs of the number of inputs to determine a valuefor each of at least a subset of parameters of the number of parameters;and depicting the number of visible indicia on an electronic visualdisplay that is situated on the worker and is disposed proximate an eyeof the worker, the number of visible indicia being representative of thevalue that corresponds with each parameter of at least some of theparameters of the at least subset.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein theelectronic visual display is at least partially translucent, and whereinthe depicting of the number of visible indicia comprises depicting thenumber of visible indicia on the at least partially translucentelectronic visual display.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein thedepicting of the number of visible indicia comprises depicting at leasta subset of the number of visible indicia as being one of a numericalrepresentation of at least a first value and an analog representation ofat least a first value depicted as being positioned on the electronicvisual display in relation to at least a first reference value.
 4. Themethod of claim 3 wherein the number of parameters that pertain to theoperation comprise a number of operational parameters that are relatedto the operation itself and a number of environmental parameters thatare related to the environment in which the operation is beingperformed, and wherein the depicting of the at least subset of thenumber of visible indicia comprises depicting a representation of acorresponding value of each of at least a subset of the number ofoperational parameters.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprisingvisually outputting an alarm based at least in part on at least some ofthe environmental parameters of the number of environmental parameters.6. The method of claim 5 wherein the number of environmental parameterscomprise an amount of atmospheric oxygen in the environment in which theoperation is being performed, and wherein the periodically receiving ofthe number of inputs from the number of detectors comprises periodicallyreceiving from an oxygen detector of the number of detectors an inputthat is representative of an existence of one of increased atmosphericoxygen and decreased atmospheric oxygen in the environment in which theoperation is being performed.
 7. The method of claim 5 wherein thenumber of environmental parameters comprise an existence of carbonmonoxide in the environment in which the operation is being performed,and wherein the periodically receiving of the number of inputs from thenumber of detectors comprises periodically receiving from a carbonmonoxide detector of the number of detectors an input that isrepresentative of an existence of carbon monoxide in the environment inwhich the operation is being performed.
 8. The method of claim 5 whereinthe number of environmental parameters comprise an existence of fire inthe environment in which the operation is being performed, and whereinthe periodically receiving of the number of inputs from the number ofdetectors comprises periodically receiving from a fire detector of thenumber of detectors an input that is representative of one of anexistence of fire and an absence of fire in the environment in which theoperation is being performed.
 9. The method of claim 3 wherein theoperation is a welding operation, and wherein a parameter of the numberof parameters is one of a voltage and a current.
 10. The method of claim3 wherein the at least first reference value is based at least in partupon a pre-established specification for the welding operation.
 11. Themethod of claim 10 further comprising receiving at least a portion ofthe pre-established specification as an input.
 12. The method of claim10 further comprising outputting a notification when the value of theparameter is within a predetermined threshold of the at least firstreference value.
 13. The method of claim 12 further comprisingoutputting another notification when the value of the parameter is equalto the at least first reference value.
 14. The method of claim 13further comprising outputting a further notification when the value ofthe parameter exceeds the at least first reference value.
 15. The methodof claim 3 further comprising receiving an input that is representativeof a preferred style of visual output from among a plurality ofavailable styles of visual output and, responsive thereto, depicting thenumber of visible indicia according to the preferred style.
 16. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the operation is a welding operation, andwherein a parameter of the number of parameters is a wire feed rate. 17.The method of claim 1 wherein the operation is a welding operation, andwherein a parameter of the number of parameters is at least one of afluid pressure and a fluid flow rate.
 18. A welding apparatus structuredto be usable by a worker to perform a welding operation, the weldingapparatus comprising: a welding instrument structured to be manuallyheld by the worker; a heat source connected with the welding instrument;a number of detectors, each detector of the number of detectors beingstructured to detect a property of at least one of the weldinginstrument, the heat source, and an environment in which the weldingapparatus is situated; a processor apparatus connected with the numberof instruments and comprising a processor and a storage; an electronicvisual display that is structured to be situated on the worker and to bedisposed proximate an eye of the worker, the electronic visual displaybeing structured to visually output to the worker during the performanceof the operation a number of visible indicia that are continuallyupdated and that are representative of a number of parameters thatpertain to the operation; and the storage having stored therein a numberof routines which, when executed on the processor, cause the processorapparatus to perform a number of operations that comprise: periodicallyreceiving a number of inputs from the number of detectors; periodicallyemploying at least some of the inputs of the number of inputs todetermine a value for each of at least a subset of parameters of thenumber of parameters; and depicting the number of visible indicia on theelectronic visual display.
 19. The welding apparatus of claim 18 whereinthe electronic visual display is at least partially translucent, andwherein the depicting of the number of visible indicia comprisesdepicting the number of visible indicia on the at least partiallytranslucent electronic visual display.